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enThis Comic Strip Explains Why We Could See More Disasters Like Toledo's Toxic Algae Bloomhttp://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/08/lake-erie-toledo-toxic-algae
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<html><body><p><em><strong>Editor's note:</strong> Over the weekend, officials in Toledo, Ohio, <a href="http://toledo.oh.gov/news/2014/08/urgent-water-notice/" target="_blank">warned</a> 400,000 residents not to drink their tap water after dangerous levels of a toxin called microcystin were detected&mdash;<a href="http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/08/toledo_residents_scramble_to_f.html" target="_blank">possibly the result</a> of an algae bloom in Lake Erie. (Officials <a href="http://toledo.oh.gov/news/2014/08/water-in-toledo-declared-safe/" target="_blank">lifted the restrictions</a> on Monday.) As this April <a href="http://symboliamag.tumblr.com/post/82314098159/yearsoflivingdangerously-this-comic-was" target="_blank">comic</a> from </em><a href="http://yearsoflivingdangerously.com/" target="_blank">Years of Living Dangerously</a><em> and </em><a href="http://www.symboliamag.com/" target="_blank">Symbolia Magazine</a><em> explains, agricultural practices and climate change are helping turn algae into a growing threat in the region.</em></p>
<div class="inline inline-left" style="display: table; width: 1%"><img alt="Erie 1" class="image" src="/files/Lake_Erie_Final_jroche_1_4-630_0.gif"></div>
<div class="inline inline-left" style="display: table; width: 1%"><img alt="Erie 2" class="image" src="/files/Lake_Erie_Final_jroche_2-630.jpg"></div>
<div class="inline inline-left" style="display: table; width: 1%"><img alt="erie 3" class="image" src="/files/Lake_Erie_Final_jroche_3-630.jpg"></div>
<div class="inline inline-left" style="display: table; width: 1%"><img alt="erie 4" class="image" src="/files/Lake_Erie_Final_jroche_4_GIF-630.gif"></div>
<div class="inline inline-left" style="display: table; width: 1%"><img alt="erie 5" class="image" src="/files/Lake_Erie_Final_jroche_5-630.jpg"></div>
<div class="inline inline-left" style="display: table; width: 1%"><img alt="Erie 6" class="image" src="/files/Lake_Erie_Final_jroche_6-630.jpg"></div>
<div class="inline inline-left" style="display: table; width: 1%"><img alt="erie 7" class="image" src="/files/Lake_Erie_Final_jroche_7-630.jpg"></div>
<div class="inline inline-left" style="display: table; width: 1%"><img alt="Erie 8" class="image" src="/files/Lake_Erie_Final_jroche_8-630.jpg"></div>
<div class="inline inline-left" style="display: table; width: 1%"><img alt="Erie 9" class="image" src="/files/Lake_Erie_Final_jroche_9_GIF-630.gif"></div>
<div class="inline inline-left" style="display: table; width: 1%"><img alt="erie 10" class="image" src="/files/Lake_Erie_Final_jroche_10-630.jpg"></div>
<div class="inline inline-left" style="display: table; width: 1%"><img alt="Erie 11" class="image" src="/files/Lake_Erie_Final_jroche_11-630.jpg"></div>
<p><em>You can read more comics exploring the impacts of climate change <a href="http://yearsoflivingdangerously.tumblr.com/archive" target="_blank">here</a>.</em></p></body></html>
EnvironmentCartoonsAnimalsClimate ChangeClimate DeskTop StoriesMon, 04 Aug 2014 20:43:17 +0000Audrey Quinn and Jackie Roche257641 at http://www.motherjones.comWATCH: Now That Corporations Have Freedom of Religion, It's Time to Lay Out the Corporate Commandments [Fiore Cartoon]http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/07/watch-corporations-freedom-religion-corporate-commandments-fiore-cartoon
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<p>Mark Fiore is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in the <em>Washington Post, </em>the <em>Los Angeles Times, </em>the <em>San Francisco Examiner, </em>and dozens of other publications. He is an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and has a <a href="http://www.markfiore.com/" target="_newWindow">website</a> featuring his work.</p></body></html>
MoJoCartoonsVideoHealth CareReproductive RightsSupreme CourtFri, 04 Jul 2014 10:00:17 +0000Mark Fiore255471 at http://www.motherjones.comBaby Catapulting and Other Batshit Hypotheses That Teach You How Science Workshttp://www.motherjones.com/media/2014/06/zach-weinersmith-inquiring-minds-bad-ad-hoc
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<html><body><p>There's nothing quite as satisfying as a really good joke. Someone has made a clever new connection between two mundane things that we've all encountered&mdash;and suddenly we have a lovely "aha" moment. We find it funny.</p>
<p>That sense of revelation accompanying a good joke or comic is very similar to what many scientists experience when they finally figure out a great explanation for some kind of previously unknown phenomenon. But don't take it from us. Take it from the scientifically-trained author and illustrator Zach Weinersmith (n&eacute;e Weiner), creator of the popular web comic <a href="http://www.smbc-comics.com/" target="_blank">Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (SMBC)</a>, known for its science-themed humor.</p>
<p>"I suspect what's actually going on with people who are thought of as very creative is they're good at two skills, one of which is generating connections rapidly, and two, editing out the garbage quickly," explains Weinersmith on this week's episode of the <a href="http://bit.ly/15fno2h" target="_blank"><em>Inquiring Minds </em>podcast</a>.</p>
<p><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F156200780" width="100%"></iframe></p>
<div class="inline inline-right" style="display: table; width: 1%"><img alt="" class="image" height="256" src="/files/1024px-Zach_Weiner.jpg" width="385"><div class="caption"><strong>Zach Weinersmith in 2011. </strong><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Zach_Weinersmith_by_year#mediaviewer/File:Zach_Weiner.jpg" target="_blank">Christina Xu</a>/Wikimedia Commons</div>
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<p>In Weinersmith's case, some of funniest jokes are actually about just plain bad scientific thinking&mdash;and they teach a lesson about what science is, and what it isn't. The comic artist is now one of the main forces behind an event series, entitled the "<a href="http://bahfest.com/#about" target="_blank">Festival of Bad Ad Hoc Hypotheses</a>," that specializes in "celebrations of well-argued and thoroughly-researched but completely incorrect evolutionary theory." The winner takes home a sculpture of Charles Darwin, "shrugging skeptically." The first festival took place at MIT in late 2013.</p>
<p>The idea for the festival originated in a popular <a href="http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2853" target="_blank">cartoon</a> that Weinersmith drew, depicting a scientist presenting the argument that babies are shaped like footballs so that they can be punted over mountains and thereby share hereditary material with more genetically-distinct populations living in nearby villages. (see below; click to enlarge/go to original). On a whim, he polled his Facebook fans to see if anyone might be interested in attending an event in which he turned this comic into a pseudo-serious academic talk.</p>
<p>"To my amazement, a thousand people came to this really dorky show," says Weinersmith.</p>
<div class="inline inline-center" style="display: table; width: 1%"><a href="www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2853"><img alt="" class="image" height="582" src="/files/comic.gif" width="582"></a>
<div class="caption"><strong>The cartoon that started it all. </strong><a href="http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2853" target="_blank">Zach Weinersmith</a>/Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal</div>
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<p>And so BAHFest was born; the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm-sQnazFAQ" target="_blank">first winner</a> gave a talk attempting to explain baby crying ("infant distress vocalization") as advantageous because it gave supremely frustrated adults a "natural adrenaline boost" that, in turn, made them more effective in battle with rival tribes. Especially when they brought the infants into battle with them. (You might be noticing a theme here.)</p>
<p>Why did Weinersmith and the other organizers choose to highlight fake science talks about topics related to adaptation and human evolution in particular? "Biology is something everybody gets on some level," says Weinersmith, who confesses he has a much harder time imagining a fake chemistry talk that would actually be funny. But he stresses that he is not "actively trying to make fun of" evolutionary psychology, or the idea that we can explain how humans behave and think today based on the evolutionary quandaries and stresses present during the species' development. It's just that the <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2012/09/17/120917crbo_books_gottlieb?currentPage=all" target="_blank">just-so stories</a> characteristic of this field are quite seductive when couched in evolutionary terms.</p>
<p>As for Weinersmith's own wacko-funny idea that babies are meant to be aerodynamic: He notes, babies are "largely hairless," an attribute that would reduce friction, or drag, when flying through the air. Plus, when you blow air on babies' faces, meanwhile, he notes they close their mouths, preventing air from entering their bodies and creating an<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_current" target="_blank"> eddy current.</a> (Weinersmith's science background is in physics.) "It doesn't make sense that the baby should have this reflex unless it is designed to fly through the air, via a catapult," says Weinersmith.</p>
<div class="inline inline-right" style="display: table; width: 1%"><img alt="" class="image" height="300" src="/files/800px-Nasca_Astronaut_2007_08.JPG" width="400"><div class="caption"><strong>Nazca "Astronaut," Peru. </strong><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nasca_Astronaut_2007_08.JPG" target="_blank">Raymond Ostertag</a>/Wikimedia Commons</div>
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<p>Furthermore, babies enjoy being lifted and spun in the air. And there's even some historical evidence, Weinersmith says:</p>
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<p>If you consider the Nazca lines, these are enormous macrostructures of these simplistic iconic drawings. So why would you ever make a drawing that people on the ground can't even see, which is also at the same time iconic and cute-looking. There's only one reasonable explanation which is that it's designed for a baby to be flying over it and remain calm in flight.</p>
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<p>Below is the full video of Weinersmith giving his "Infantapulting Hypothesis" talk at the first BAHFest. You'll notice one slight alteration in the "theory" from cartoon to lecture: The babies are not being punted any more, but rather, catapulted. "In the original version, the baby was being drop kicked," says Weinersmith. "And I thought for an audience of semi-normal people, that might be a little upsetting. Or at least, it would be hard to make slides."</p>
<p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="357" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/94_omZ2RnfI" width="630"></iframe></p>
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<p>So how do we distinguish fact from fiction when it comes to science? When Weinersmith asked one of the previous BAHFest participants about a certain graph, one that showed a direct correlation between obesity and the length of a country's roads, he got the following answer: "Nothing that I left in is not true." And herein lies a major pitfall in science: cherry picking or data mining. Because we humans are highly susceptible to the confirmation bias&mdash;that is, we tend to look for evidence that supports what we already think is going on, rather than data that might call our own hypotheses into question&mdash;we need to be very careful not to focus on only a small subset of information available to us.</p>
<p>Otherwise, what we think is a good idea might actually be, well, just a joke.</p>
<p>Another serious lesson from the supremely unserious BAHFest is that there is a huge amount of interpretation of data involved in science. "I feel like there's this unfortunate notion among most people that what a scientist does is get data, and then the data tells them what the conclusion is and that's how science gets done," says Weinersmith. "And of course the actual process is quite a bit messier, which probably makes it more fun. But I think the public often get misled by the idea that getting science is kind of like digging up gold nuggets or something."</p>
<p>When Weinersmith isn't creating comics and curating events to roast bad science, he's tending to his 3-month old baby girl. Infantpulting is out, of course, but he says he was thinking about a safe way that he could, er, involve his daughter in a real wind tunnel demonstration to elaborate on the theory.</p>
<p>"I suppose I could 3D print a model of exactly my kid for the experiment," he says.</p>
<p><em>To listen to the full Inquiring Minds interview with Zach Weinersmith, you can stream below:</em></p>
<p><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F156200780" width="100%"></iframe></p>
<p name="6dc5"><em>This episode of </em><a href="http://t.co/CQ9WZRPMFO" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Inquiring Minds</a>, <em>a podcast hosted by neuroscientist and musician Indre Viskontas and best-selling author Chris Mooney, also features a short discussion with Cynthia Graber, author of the new PBS/NOVANext article "<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/nature/more-food-with-microbes/" target="_blank">The Next Green Revolution May Rely on Microbes</a>," and</em><em> a discussion of the science of <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/06/suarez-chiellini-bite-world-cup-infection" target="_blank">why human biting is so dangerous</a>, and of how our hormones <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/stress-cortisol-voter-turnout" target="_blank">influence political choices</a>.</em></p>
<p name="b990"><em>To catch future shows right when they are released, subscribe to </em>Inquiring Minds <em>via</em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/inquiring-minds/id711675943" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em>iTunes</em></a><em> or</em> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/inquiring-minds" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em>RSS</em></a><em>. We are also available </em><a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/inquiring-minds" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em>on Stitcher</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/swell-radio/id557048779?ls=1&amp;mt=8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em>on Swell</em></a><em>. You can follow the show on Twitter at </em><a href="https://twitter.com/inquiringshow" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em>@inquiringshow</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/inquiringmindspodcast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em>like us on Facebook</em></a><em>. </em>Inquiring Minds <em>was also recently singled out as one of the "Best of 2013" on iTunes&mdash;you can learn more </em><a href="http://www.itunes.com/bestof2013" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em>here</em></a><em>.</em></p></body></html>
MediaCartoonsPodcastsScienceTop StoriesInquiring MindsFri, 27 Jun 2014 10:00:15 +0000Indre Viskontas and Chris Mooney254786 at http://www.motherjones.comWatch: How to Take Over the Middle East in a Few Easy Steps [Fiore Cartoon]http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2014/06/fiore-take-over-middle-east-steps
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<p>Mark Fiore is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in the <em>Washington Post, </em>the <em>Los Angeles Times, </em>the <em>San Francisco Examiner, </em>and dozens of other publications. He is an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and has a <a href="http://www.markfiore.com/" target="_newWindow">website</a> featuring his work.</p></body></html>
Mixed MediaCartoonsVideoInternationalIraqThu, 19 Jun 2014 21:14:29 +0000Mark Fiore254466 at http://www.motherjones.comWatch: Is the NRA So Different From a Jihadi Terrorist Group? [Fiore Cartoon]http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2014/06/nra-mark-fiore-guns-crazy
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<p>Mark Fiore is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in the <em>Washington Post, </em>the <em>Los Angeles Times, </em>the <em>San Francisco Examiner, </em>and dozens of other publications. He is an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and has a <a href="http://www.markfiore.com/" target="_newWindow">website</a> featuring his work.</p></body></html>
Mixed MediaCartoonsGunsThe RightFri, 13 Jun 2014 00:16:38 +0000Mark Fiore254031 at http://www.motherjones.comWATCH: The Bowe Bergdahl Taliban Prisoner Swap Will Keep the Conservative Conspiracy-Mill Going [Fiore Cartoon]http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/06/watch-bowe-bergdahl-taliban-prisoner-swap-keep-conspiracy-mill-going
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<p>Mark Fiore is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in the <em>Washington Post, </em>the <em>Los Angeles Times, </em>the <em>San Francisco Examiner, </em>and dozens of other publications. He is an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and has a <a href="http://www.markfiore.com/" target="_newWindow">website</a> featuring his work.</p></body></html>
MoJoCartoonsVideoMilitaryObamaThe RightThu, 05 Jun 2014 17:22:56 +0000Mark Fiore253471 at http://www.motherjones.comWATCH: To Understand the VA Disaster, Just Call the "Health Care Benefits" Toll Free Number. [Fiore Cartoon]http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/05/va-disaster-toll-free-health-care-benefits-watch-mark-fiore-cartoon
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<p>Mark Fiore is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in the <em>Washington Post, </em>the <em>Los Angeles Times, </em>the <em>San Francisco Examiner, </em>and dozens of other publications. He is an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and has a <a href="http://www.markfiore.com/" target="_newWindow">website</a> featuring his work.</p></body></html>
MoJoCartoonsVideoHealth CareMilitaryObamaThe RightThu, 29 May 2014 23:49:23 +0000Mark Fiore253001 at http://www.motherjones.comSyria's Climate-Fueled Conflict, In One Stunning Comic Striphttp://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/05/syria-climate-years-living-dangerously-symbolia
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<html><body><p><em>This <a href="http://yearsoflivingdangerously.tumblr.com/post/86898140738/this-comic-was-produced-in-partnership-by-years-of" target="_blank">comic</a> was produced by <a href="http://yearsoflivingdangerously.com/" target="_blank">Years of Living Dangerously</a> and <a href="http://www.symboliamag.com/" target="_blank">Symbolia Magazine</a>. You can read more of their comics exploring the impacts of climate change <a href="http://yearsoflivingdangerously.tumblr.com/archive" target="_blank">here</a>.</em></p>
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PoliticsCartoonsClimate ChangeClimate DeskInternationalTop StoriesThu, 29 May 2014 10:00:05 +0000Audrey Quinn and Jackie Roche252761 at http://www.motherjones.comWATCH: The Logic of Monopolies, Debunked [Fiore Cartoon]http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2014/05/watch-logic-monopolies-debunked-fiore-cartoon
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<p>Mark Fiore is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in the <em>Washington Post, </em>the <em>Los Angeles Times, </em>the <em>San Francisco Examiner, </em>and dozens of other publications. He is an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and has a <a href="http://www.markfiore.com/" target="_newWindow">website</a> featuring his work.</p></body></html>
Mixed MediaCartoonsCorporationsEconomyLaborRegulatory AffairsThu, 22 May 2014 23:10:22 +0000Mark Fiore252546 at http://www.motherjones.comWATCH: Speaking Benghazi Can Distract From Any Meaningful Conversation [Fiore Cartoon]http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/05/watch-learn-speak-benghazi-fiore-cartoon
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<p>Mark Fiore is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in the <em>Washington Post, </em>the <em>Los Angeles Times, </em>the <em>San Francisco Examiner, </em>and dozens of other publications. He is an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and has a <a href="http://www.markfiore.com/" target="_newWindow">website</a> featuring his work.</p></body></html>
MoJoCartoonsVideoMilitaryObamaThe RightFri, 16 May 2014 15:48:50 +0000Mark Fiore252066 at http://www.motherjones.comWATCH: What Can Oklahoma's Botched Execution Teach Us About the Death Penalty? [Fiore Cartoon]http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2014/05/watch-oklahoma-botched-execution-death-penalty-fiore-cartoon
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<p>Mark Fiore is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in the <em>Washington Post, </em>the <em>Los Angeles Times, </em>the <em>San Francisco Examiner, </em>and dozens of other publications. He is an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and has a <a href="http://www.markfiore.com/" target="_newWindow">website</a> featuring his work.</p></body></html>
Mixed MediaCartoonsCivil LibertiesSat, 10 May 2014 01:03:44 +0000Mark Fiore251681 at http://www.motherjones.comRoz Chast: The MoJo Yearshttp://www.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/roz-chast-mother-jones-cartoons
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<article id="shell960"><header><p>While cartoonist <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/media/2014/04/roz-chast-new-yorker-cartoonist-memoir-aging" target="_blank">Roz Chast</a> is best known as a fixture in the pages of the <em>New Yorker</em>, back in the day she was also a regular contributor to <em>Mother Jones</em>. Below, we've collected Chast's work from the pages of <em>MoJo</em> between 1983 and 1988.<br><strong>Plus:</strong> <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/media/2014/04/roz-chast-new-yorker-cartoonist-memoir-aging" target="_blank">Read an interview</a> with Chast about her new cartoon memoir, <em>Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?</em></p>
</header><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/chast-aug-83-850.jpeg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>August 1983</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-sepoct-1983-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>September/October 1983</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-nov-83-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>November 1983</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-dec-1983-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>December 1983</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-jan-84-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>January 1984</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-febmar-84-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>February/March 1984</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-april-84-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>April 1984</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-may-84-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>May 1984</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-jun-1984-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>June 1984</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-jul-1984-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>July 1984</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-augsep-1984-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>August/September 1984</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-nov-1984-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>November 1984</em></p>
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<section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-dec-1984-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>December 1984</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-jan-1985-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>January 1985</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-febmar-1985-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>February/March 1985</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-may-1985-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>May 1985</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-jun-1985-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>June 1985</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-jul-1985-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>July 1985</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-augsep-1985-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>August/September 1985</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-oct-1985-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>October 1985</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-jan-1986-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>January 1986</em></p>
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<section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-febmar-1986-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>February/March 1986</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-aprmay-1986-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>April/May 1986</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-jun-1986-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>June 1986</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-julaug-1986-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>July/August 1986</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-sep-1986-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>September 1986</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-oct-1986-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>October 1986</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-nov-1986-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>November 1986</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-dec-1986-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>December 1986</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-jan-1987-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>January 1987</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-may-1987-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>May 1987</em></p>
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<section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-junjul-1987-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>June/July 1987</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-augsep-1987-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>August/September 1987</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-oct-1987-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>October 1987</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-nov-1987-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>November 1987</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-dec-1987-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>December 1987</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-jan-1988-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>January 1988</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-febmar-1988-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>February/March 1988</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-apr-1988-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>April 1988</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-may-1988-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>May 1988</em></p>
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<section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-jun-1988-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>June 1988</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-julaug-1988-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>July/August 1988</em></p>
</section><section><figure><img alt="" class="width850" src="http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-sep-1988-850.jpg"></figure><p class="rtecenter"><em>September 1988</em></p>
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MediaCartoonsSlideshowsMediaMon, 05 May 2014 10:00:08 +0000251206 at http://www.motherjones.comInto the Crazy Closet With Roz Chasthttp://www.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/roz-chast-new-yorker-cartoonist-memoir-aging
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<html><body><div class="sidebar-small-right"><strong>Plus:</strong> <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/chast-cartoons" target="_blank">Vintage Chast cartoons from the pages of <em>Mother Jones</em>.</a></div>
<p>You know a Roz Chast character when you see one: a person, often on a sofa, whose bemused, slightly off-kilter expression suggests some deeper angst or anger. The longtime <a href="http://rozchast.com/" target="_blank"><em>New Yorker</em> cartoonist's</a> new memoir, <a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/9781608198061" target="_blank"><em>Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?</em></a>, introduces two real-life characters: her parents, George and Elizabeth, a sweet motormouth who "chain-worried the way others might chain-smoke" and an outspoken assistant principal known for her furious "blasts from Chast." The book chronicles their reluctant slide into extreme old age, which left Chast, now 59, to sift through decades of emotional baggage and mountains of stuff&mdash;like their junk-crammed "Crazy Closet." Her poignant, funny story will resonate with anyone who's experienced the roller coaster of an elderly relative's final years.</p>
<p><strong>Mother Jones: </strong>As a child you felt your parents had their own thing going and you were kind of in the way. When did you come to that realization?</p>
<p><strong>Roz Chast: </strong>Probably pretty young. I was an only child, and they worked. They'd been together for a very long time before I was born. They were very connected to each other. They were older&mdash;chronologically and in a lot of other ways&mdash;than my friends' parents. I never saw my father wear any kind of pants except for, like, <em>man pants</em>, those gray slacks. Forget jeans. Not even corduroys or khakis. When we'd go to the beach, they'd be wearing their street clothes. They weren't very casual.</p>
<div class="inline inline-center" style="display: table; width: 1%"><img alt="" class="image" src="/files/chast-dec-1984-630.jpg"><div class="caption"><strong>A Roz Chast cartoon that appeared in <em>Mother Jones</em> in December 1984 </strong>Roz Chast/<em>Mother Jones</em></div>
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<p><strong>MJ:</strong> How have your views on aging changed as a result of caring for them?</p>
<p><strong>RC: </strong>It's definitely made me think a lot more about it. Recently I was visiting my son and we went to this huge indoor flea market. At first it was like, <em>This is great, this is wonderful</em>. And then within a few minutes, I just looked around and felt like, <em>I just threw away all this shit. </em>This is all dead-people stuff, crap that people got rid of that was maybe in their old apartment or in their parents house or whatever. Do I want this cute little alarm clock from 1962? Not really. So I just have a different feeling about stuff. And as I get older, it's not likely to completely go away. I could be wrong. I could decide to suddenly collect cute alarm clocks.</p>
<p><strong>MJ:</strong> So you don't have a Crazy Closet?</p>
<p><strong>RC: </strong>Every drawer is like a mini-Crazy Closet. I'm just hoping it doesn't get that bad. I didn't go through the Depression like my parents did.</p>
<p><strong>MJ: </strong>Were they unable to throw stuff away as a result?</p>
<p><strong>RC:</strong> Oh yeah! You didn't throw away jar lids or Band-Aid boxes. There was a drawer of those amber plastic vials, what pills come in&mdash;you might need them for, I don't know, three cotton balls or something. It was borderline hoarding. They didn't throw away old clothes. They just shoved things in the closet so everything was pressed. I think I must have been the only person who really understood why Joan Crawford was so upset about <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOILKHmZBwc" target="_blank">the wire hangers</a>. It was just like, <em>She's right! She's right! </em></p>
<p><strong>MJ: </strong>Your mom was adamant that she and your dad were "going to 100" together. Do you share that determination?</p>
<p><strong>RC:</strong> I really don't. On the other hand, how would I know what it feels like to be that age any more than a person who's 25 can understand what it feels like to be 50?</p>
<p><strong>MJ:</strong> Your title refers to your parents' reluctance to talk about aging or dying.</p>
<p><strong>RC:</strong> I think it's pretty representative of our world, our culture. We don't really talk about it. You just take old people and you put them in a place, and I hope that doesn't happen to me, but it's not like I'm actively doing anything to prevent that&mdash;which is weird.</p>
<p><strong>MJ:</strong> It's hard to know what the alternatives are, though. You talk, tongue in cheek but also seriously, about how your final years could be made happier: Why not eat all the ice cream you want or take opium or even have hemlock as an option?</p>
<p><strong>RC: </strong>I'd rather take opium than hemlock. I sometimes think, once you're lying there, why not do something that might be fun?</p>
<div class="inline inline-center" style="display: table; width: 1%"><img alt="" class="image" src="/files/chast-may-1988-630.jpg"><div class="caption"><strong>A Roz Chast cartoon that appeared in <em>Mother Jones</em> in May 1988 </strong>Roz Chast/<em>Mother Jones</em></div>
</div>
<p><strong>MJ: </strong>At what age did you realize you wanted to be a cartoonist?</p>
<p><strong>RC:</strong> I used to love to draw things that made me laugh or made friends laugh. When I was 13 or 14, I started thinking, <em>This is what I like to do more than anything else</em>.</p>
<p><strong>MJ: </strong>Your work often has people sitting on living-room sofas. In your book, even Death sits on one. Do sofas hold some sort of significance for you?</p>
<p><strong>RC: </strong>I just like drawing them.</p>
<p><strong>MJ: </strong>The <em>New Yorker</em> is notorious for its weekly cartoon pitch process. What's your hit-to-miss ratio?</p>
<p><strong>RC:</strong> It goes in streaks. I could <em>not </em>sell for three weeks and then sell three weeks in a row and then not sell for two weeks and then sell for one. <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/cartoonists" target="_blank">Bob Mankoff</a>, the cartoon editor, talked once about this experiment with rats and pellets. The rats that pushed down the lever and got a pellet every time would eventually get bored, and the rats that never got any pellets would eventually stop pushing. But where it was random, where they'd push down the lever and get three pellets, and then three pushes and no pellets, and then a push and two pellets&mdash;they'd keep on pushing forever. I think about that a lot. I think that cartoonists are the rats with the levers.</p></body></html>
MediaCartoonsInterviewBooksHealthMediaTop StoriesOffbeatMon, 05 May 2014 10:00:06 +0000Dave Gilson248831 at http://www.motherjones.comWATCH: The NRA Recently Held Its Annual Meeting, And It Was Just as You'd Expect [Fiore Cartoon]http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2014/05/watch-nra-annual-meeting-fiore-cartoon
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Mark Fiore is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in the <em>Washington Post, </em>the <em>Los Angeles Times, </em>the <em>San Francisco Examiner, </em>and dozens of other publications. He is an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and has a <a href="http://www.markfiore.com/" target="_newWindow">website</a> featuring his work.</p></body></html>
Mixed MediaCartoonsGunsRegulatory AffairsThe RightFri, 02 May 2014 16:45:47 +0000Mark Fiore251181 at http://www.motherjones.comWATCH: Cliven Bundy's Anti-Government Beliefs, Animated [Fiore Cartoon]http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2014/04/watch-cliven-bundys-anti-government-beliefs-animated-fiore-cartoon
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<p>Mark Fiore is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in the <em>Washington Post, </em>the <em>Los Angeles Times, </em>the <em>San Francisco Examiner, </em>and dozens of other publications. He is an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and has a <a href="http://www.markfiore.com/" target="_newWindow">website</a> featuring his work.</p></body></html>
Mixed MediaCartoonsCivil LibertiesObamaRegulatory AffairsThe RightMon, 28 Apr 2014 18:36:18 +0000Mark Fiore250796 at http://www.motherjones.com